Reflection on Luke 13:1-9

 

Luke 13:1-9

1 At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.2 [Jesus] asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did.”

6 Then he told this parable: 

“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Reflection

Chaos is real.  Towers falling and killing is chaos.  Evil leaders, punishing people, slaughtering people, and making innocent people examples by mixing their blood with their own sacrifices to create fear is chaos. Chaos is real.  In some ways, the Bible thinks it is the most real thing, aside from God.

As the Bible tells the story, before there was anything, there was chaos.  The Bible tells the story of God creating a safe pocket, a safe bubble of order and life in the middle of the chaotic waters (Genesis chapter 1).  In another parallel image, the Bible tells the story of God creating a lush and beautiful garden of life in the middle of a dry, parched, and blustery chaotic desert wilderness (Genesis 2).  In both images, God creates order and life in the middle of the chaos.  And, God plants people in that space of order and goodness…people who can help to keep it, plant it, and spread the life even further out…a garden that slowly takes over the surrounding chaos (Genesis 2:15).  And, God looked at all of that, and thought, “That is very good” (Genesis 1:31).

But, the bubble containing life in the middle of the waters, and the lush garden in the middle of the desert are only pockets of goodness and life.  Chaos still exists.  The sandy winds still blow and kill, and the waters still claim ships and people.  The Bible has us understand that dragons of chaos still swim in the seas and cause havoc (Isaiah 27:1).  Snakes of chaos slither in from the wilderness and cause humans to fail, falter, and kill (Genesis 3:1).  Lions pounce from the chaotic grasses; seeking to devour; seeking to kill; seeking to create hopelessness; seeking to create chaos (1 Peter 5:8). 

All of this is to say that chaos never went away.  Creation did not eliminate it.  Chaos never left us.  It is always present; both outside of us creating havoc and pain, and encroaching within our very souls, slithering its way in, causing death, darkness, sin, and despair. 

So, the question put to Jesus is whether or not a certain number of individuals let the serpent of chaos slither in?  Some people told Jesus “about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  [Jesus] asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?’” (Luke 13:1-2).

And, the question seems to make sense because so many of us do crack open the door and let the chaos in.  Even our biblical ancestors did.  Cain refused to do better and learn to be better after his offering was not accepted, and because of that, because he left his heart open to such an attack, chaos pounced.  His brother lay dead; chaos exuding from his own hands (Genesis 4:1-6). 

King David refused to go to war, and instead looked down from his balcony, his eyes landing on a beautiful woman bathing, leaving his heart open to an attack of chaos (2 Samuel 11).  His life and his kingship crumbled from then on, with nothing but chaos writing his story and the story of his children. 

So, yes, we often allow chaos invade our lives.

So, the question is, “When we see that chaos has invaded someone else’s life, does that automatically mean that they brought it upon themselves?”  Are they, themselves, always to blame?  And, Jesus’ answer to that question is a crystal clear, “No” (Luke 13:3).

And, how about “those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them” (Luke 13:4)?  Did they bring it upon themselves?  Were they worse sinners than everyone else? 

After-all, it is quite ironic that the tower, the very place that you usually run to for safety, the very place in which you hide when your life is under attack and the armies are advancing, is the very place that crumbed and crushed eighteen people.  Even “the name of the Lord” is depicted as a “strong tower” in the Bible (Proverbs 18:10).  Towers save, they do not kill.  These people must have done something!  But, again, Jesus’ answer is an emphatic “No” (Luke 13:5).

These people do not deserve to be blamed for their tragic deaths.  They did not ask for chaos to enter into their lives.  They did not have to ask.  Chaos is still out there, causing towers to fall and evil leaders to not care; causing diseases to spread and professionals to misdiagnose and mistreat; causing winds to blow and accidents to destroy.  Chaos still exists and it has always existed, making horrible things to happen to the good and bad alike.  There is sometimes someone to blame, but not always.  That is the nature of chaos.

But, just because chaos did not cause these disasters, does not mean that we let our guard down, Jesus says.  “No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did” (Luke 13:5).  I cannot help but think that Jesus is once again teaching us that rather than looking outward and judging others, we should look inward and judge ourselves. 

It is so easy to assume others are sinful, and it is also so to assume that we are virtuous.  This sort of blindness to ourselves is exactly what allows chaos to strike.  “Do not judge,” Jesus teaches (Luke 6:37).  “How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye” (Luke 6:42). 

Unless we look at ourselves; unless we realize that our own hearts just might have become corrupted; unless we take the time to change our thinking to be like God’s thinking, chaos will strike.  The writer of 1 Peter puts it this way: “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Discipline yourselves; look at yourselves; notice yourselves and God just might do something wonderful to you.  God just might heap some manure on your feet.

You did not hear right.  I said that God just might heap some manure on your feet or more!

Jesus talks about this.  Jesus tells a story about how a man planted a fig tree in his vineyard, and the tree gave him no fruit!  He waited three years for the fully grown tree to give some nice, sweet, juicy figs, and the tree provided none.  He was ready to chop the thing down, but the caretaker of the tree suggested that the tree just might need some tender care.  The tree just might need a little manure to make it grow and produce.

That reminds me of Pastor Rebecca from my childhood.  She was from the city, and thus was surprised to be called as a pastor in my little Midwestern farming town.  Soon after moving in, one of the farmers in the congregation invited her to go out to the farm to see how things were done.

“We’re going to take the honey wagon out into the field this week, spread it out to fertilize, if you want to come and check it out.”

Pastor Rebecca could not believe it.  Never in her life had she heard of farmers spreading honey on their fields to make them grow.  What an amazing thing!

So, the next day, she climbed into the tractor cab with the farmer, staring at the big tank of honey attached to the back.  She couldn’t wait.

“Are you ready?” the farmer asked.

“I’m ready!” she said excitedly.

And, as soon as the honey wagon started to spray, the foulest stench she had even smelled invaded her nose and attacked her very soul. 

“That does not smell like honey!” she gasped.

“Nope,” the farmer said.  “That smells like money.”

She soon learned that a little manure can go a long way to make things grow and produce a profit.  And, that was good for the farmer, and his family, and his entire community for that matter.  And, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that sometimes the manure, sometimes the hardships and chaos of life can be used by God to make us grow and flourish.

Listen, God rarely is the cause of chaos in our lives.  Chaos does not need an invitation, it will come.  It is always surrounding us and is ever present, and it will come.  Just like manure on a farm comes in abundance, and you just have to deal with it and make something of it, in the same way, Jesus uses the chaos that comes our way as a sort of fertilizer that strengthens us and helps us to learn, and grow, and produce good fruit.  He is the loving caretaker who refuses to allow his tree to be cut down right away.  He is the one who uses the manure to tenderly and strategically care for the tree and allow it to produce fruit that is life-giving and good to those who eat.

So, when the chaos of the world comes our way, and even infects our very bodies, Jesus leads us away from blaming; Jesus leads us into some deep soul searching; and Jesus uses the chaos in a loving way, to make us into the people of life and grace that he always hoped that we might be.  I am not saying this right.  The Apostle Paul puts it better than I ever could.

“We…boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Yes, the chaos in the world and in our lives is very, very real.  But, we have a savior that can turn that manure into money.  We have a savior who can use that chaos to grow us into a people of endurance, and character, and hope, and finally love.  We have a savior who does not let us just be cut down, but cares enough to save even the most love-barren of us all.  That savior is Jesus Christ, our Lord.